Posts Tagged ‘stick’

Here’s the deal. If you only have dark circles, you can apply a concealer that is a half shade lighter than your foundation to the under-eye area and be good to go. But… if you have dark circles and puffy “bags,” you’re actually making things look worse!

Remember back in Art class: One of the first things we studied was dimensions and we learned that if you shade something with a darker color, it will “push” it to the background, like it’s further away. On the contrary, if you paint with a lighter shade, it “pulls” that area to the foreground, making it appear closer. We can apply that theory here!

Here’s the trick: Under-eye shadows need a lighter shade to bring them forward. Puffy bags are already in the foreground and need to be pushed back, which is why you want a slightly darker shade. A lighter shade will bring them even more forward, making them look puffier! That’s the last thing you need!

After applying foundation all over the face and neck, look in the mirror and focus your eye to only see the dark area. This is not the puffy area! This is the area that is darker and most likely closest to your nose or under the puffy “bag”. Trace the correcting pen over the dark area to lighten it up.

Now notice only the part that is puffy and raised. Apply the liquid concealer in the slightly darker shade directly on top of it.

When shadow sticks came along a few years ago, the makeup industry was changed forever! They put the intensity of a cream shadow into a rounded stick that glides with ease. Then they formulated them to be smudgeable for a minute then set and last for hours without fading. Like all makeup, you can apply them however you prefer. I’ve found that if you want to make sure it doesn’t crease in the crease, this is the way to apply it. And the trick is not to apply it into the crease. Instead, only apply it on the lid, then smear and smudge it with your finger into the crease creating a slow fade. Here’s how:

Directly from the tube, draw across the entire lid as demonstrated on Lacy below. Leave the crease bare.

Place your finger on top of what you just drew and start to smudge it upward into the crease.

Now that you’ve smudged it into the crease, start to “drag” or pull it towards the outside corner of the crease. See the diagram below.

Apply a couple coats of mascara and you’re good to go!

If you prefer brushes over your fingers, you can absolutely use one to blend the shadow up in step 2 and over step 3, but with your finger, you have the advantage of your body temperature to help move the product around better. You can also apply it to the bottom lashline if you wish. Just trace along it with the stick then smear it gently with your finger or a Q-tip.

We all know there are different types of foundations, each offering a different finish and coverage. Cream and powder foundation are typically the heaviest and cover the most while tinted moisturizers and BB creams offer the lightest coverage and feel. Liquid foundation falls in the middle of the spectrum. Until now! There is a new breed of liquid foundations that are so thin (you will literally die when you feel how thin they are… Ok not literally but you know what I mean!) yet they are formulated to give medium to full coverage. They feel so amazing, as if you’re not wearing anything, and there’s a different technique to apply them. Here’s all you need to know about fluid foundation: (more…)

Smoky eyes are up there with cat eyes on the intimidation list. But if you can draw lines in a checkerboard, you can create a smoky eye! Don’t worry about it being an exact duplicate of what I did above, just make sure you have the right liner formula and prep your lid with foundation first, otherwise, it won’t work. Here’s how: (more…)